Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies
These vegan molasses cookies are the perfect one bowl holiday cookie! They’re ready in just 20 minutes, spiced with ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg and will have your whole house smelling like a bakery.
These vegan molasses cookies are my faaaaavorite holiday cookie. I love my peppermint cookies and all, but these are so easy to make, perfectly chewy, sweet, spiced and more.
They have a slight crisp to the edge when you first bite in, but still have a super soft center. Don’t worry, no crunchy cookies will be found around here!
This recipe is naturally vegan, gluten free and even refined sugar free! Perfect with a glass of my cinnamon spiced sangria while you bake!
These cookies might be vegan, gluten free and even refined sugar free optional, but I promise they’ll be a total hit at your holiday party. If you love this recipe, try my gluten free gingerbread loaf, vegan protein cookies or gluten free gingerbread cake next!
How to make vegan ginger cookies
PREHEAT. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
MIX WET. In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the room temperature butter and sugar until well combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the remaining wet ingredients.
ADD DRY. Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flours, don’t pack them in! Mix together with a wooden spoon until well combined.
SCOOP. Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls and roll in the sugar. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
BAKE. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the cookies have crackly tops and have mostly flattened. They’ll firm up as they cool, so take them out early for chewy cookies.
COOL & SERVE. Let cool completely, then drizzle with the optional maple icing and enjoy!
Do I need to chill the dough?
No! Sometimes chilling dough is helpful to prevent the cookies from spreading prematurely. It also allows the flavors to blend really nicely.
However, I find that when using oat flour, chilling the dough can prevent the cookies from spreading much at all. Once the dough is ready, just scoop and bake!
How to get perfectly a round shape
Most of the time, my cookies come out of the oven looking less than perfect. They don’t always spread properly, the chocolate (if there) melts into the cookie strangely etc.
To correct the shape, I use a round cookie cutter to spin around the cookie and get a perfectly round shape.
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You’re not cutting the cookies, so use one that is slightly larger than the cookie itself and spin it around the cookie to get it perfectly round. These tricks yield perfect photo worthy cookies every time!
How to store and freeze
These vegan molasses cookies will keep at room temperature for about 3-5 days. Store them in an air tight container and pop in the microwave for 5-10 seconds before eating! They’ll be good as new.
You can also freeze these before or after baking! To freeze before baking, just scoop the dough into balls and place in a freezer safe bag or container.
Freeze for up to 2 months, then bake from frozen at 325 for a few extra minutes than the recipe calls for.
To freeze after baking, allow the cookies to cool completely, then transfer to a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat in the oven at 300 just until warm through the center.
Can I make them without ginger?
Yes, if you aren’t a fan of ginger, you are welcome to omit it or simply decrease. However, for the best flavor I recommend following the recipe as written!
However, keep in mind they won’t really be vegan ginger cookies without ginger!
What kind of molasses is best for cookies?
My personal favorite brand is Grandma’s molasses. I do not recommend blackstrap molasses since it is triple boiled (as opposed to double boiled like regular molasses) so it is far less sweet and even has a bitter taste.
You want to use dark, unsulfured molasses for the best flavor possible. Molasses is derived from the process of refining sugar and is naturally vegan and gluten free.
What makes molasses cookies crack?
I love the crackles on top of these! A few things are key here.
One is the leavening agents. We’re using both baking soda and powder which cause the cookies to crack as they spread as well as rise, so when they cool then collapse just slightly which creates cracks on top.
The second trick is rolling the dough in sugar before baking. This dries the surface of the dough which causes more cracks while they bake.
Try these next!
- Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Gingerbread Cutout Cookies
- Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
- Frosted Gingerbread Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
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Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- ¼ cup butter or refined coconut oil I recommend butter/vegan butter for best flavor
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar coconut, white or brown sugar all work
- 5 tablespoons molasses
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk I used almond
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry
- 1 ½ cups fine blanched almond flour
- 1 ¼ cups oat flour certified GF as needed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 – 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger depending on preference, I use 1 1/4
- 1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For Rolling
- 4 tablespoons sanding sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the room temperature butter and sugar until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Beat in the remaining wet ingredients.
- Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flours, don’t pack them in! Mix together with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls and roll in the sugar.
- Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the cookies have crackly tops and have mostly flattened. They’ll firm up as they cool, so take them out early for chewy cookies.
- I then like to use a round cookie cutter to spin around the cookie and get a perfectly round shape. You’re not cutting the cookies, so use one that is slightly larger than the cookie itself and spin it around to get it perfectly round.
- let cool completely, then drizzle with the optional maple icing and enjoy!
Notes
Comments
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I just made these today! They are absolutely delicious! In my oven, they only needed 8 minutes to cook. It was a perfect balance of chewy and crispy on the edges. I took a riff on the drizzle and instead did a cinnamon glaze drizzle.Yum! Thank you for your GF and eggless recipes. I have family members who have celiac’s and egg allergies.It’s so nice to still make baked goods and keep everyone healthy!
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Thank you Hannah! So glad you found something everyone could enjoy!
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I am going to try these— I had a recipe with only oat flour that produced a fidgey center. But I had trouble with it yielding the same results consistently. Are these a moist center? Can I add cornstarch to help with the moist center?
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Cornstarch will dry them out more since it will absorb moisture. As written, this recipe will produce a very moist cookie!
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Yes these were exactly the recipe I was looking for, with the maple gaze, perfection.
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This looks delicious and I want to make these for my daughter who is GF. Can you please give the ingredients for the maple glaze. Only powdered sugar and almond milk is mentioned. Thank you so much!
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It’s just 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and almond milk if needed to thin plus a pinch of salt!
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I live in Julian California and Mom’s bakery makes a chewy ginger molasses cookie that is addictive. . But I try to avoid sugar, so what to do? I looked online for a recipe that had the most molasses, used coconut sugar, and had no strange ingredients. ( I liked the picture, too…. Just in case you were wondering.) Well the first batch is out of the oven, and it is chewy, crispy, molassessy , and just the right amount of sweetness …if only almond flour was as fine as refined flour.
The one ingredient I did not have on hand is oat flour, but I do have whole oats and a Vitamix grain mill.
I will certainly try more of your recipes!-
Thank you, Jacque! Excited to see what else you make.
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Hi! I’m excited to try this! What if there’s a nut allergy? I need to switch the almond flour with something else. What do you recommend as an alternative?
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I’d suggest subbing for oat flour!
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I have been looking for a bakery style ginger molasses cookie for a long time.
This is it! Delicious, crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside and so easy.
They turned out perfectly the first time I made them.
A must have cookie recipe for sure!
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Thank you, so happy you enjoyed these!
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I made the cookies today and they are delicious! The only problem is that they did not flatten in the oven; they were a little on the cakey side. Any idea what could have gone wrong?
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My guess is you may have used too much flour by accident. Be sure to spoon and level, don’t pack the flour in. You can try adding an extra 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda if you like them flatter.
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Made with brown sugar and vegan butter. Love, love, love these. Make these on a regular basis.
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Thanks Michelle! So glad you’re enjoying them!
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WoW so good so so good and healthy ! I used 1/2 cup of coconut palm sugar , I added just more ginger and allspice I like my cookies spicy . I got 15 cookies I didn’t roll in sugar so I am wondering if it’s why they didn’t flattened too much , they are thicker than yours , I baked mine 16 minutes because I like crunchy but next time 14 will be perfect . I will definitely bake more , I will reduce the sugar to 1/3 cup and roll the cookies in sugar to see the difference . I don’t like to sweet ! Awesome healthy cookies you don’t feel guilty eating them .
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I could just eat the raw dough and be a happy girl! So easy and delicious! Thank you!
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Same! Sometimes I do hah!
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These turned out great! I used 1/2 cup coconut sugar instead of 2/3. I doubled all the spices and added fresh ginger. I like em spicy! I didn’t roll in sugar or frost. Very good recipe. Thank you!
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Love the addition of fresh ginger! So happy you enjoyed these!
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These cookies were absolutely amazing! We made them for Christmas and everyone really enjoyed them. They were so easy to make with simple and clean ingredients – making for a perfect recipe!
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Thanks Brooke! These are such a favorite of mine, so glad you all enjoyed!
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I made These today with coconut sugar and blackstrap molasses and they still came out amazing! Question: better stored in fridge or counter? Giving them away tomorrow and want them to still be crisp outside and chewy inside. Thank you!
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yay! So glad that worked out. I’d recommend room temperature in a container to keep them fresh!
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Worked great – thank you!
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Made these yesterday. They taste even better than traditional gingerbread cookies. I made my own glaze with condensed coconut milk, maple syrup and peanut butter. Instead of rolling in sugar I rolled them out and cut them with a cookie cutter. The cookies kept their shape perfectly in my (toaster) oven. I forgot to add in the ginger but they were still delicious. Will definitely make again this week
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omg so glad they turned out well even without the ginger!! Also good to know they worked out as cutout cookies!
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